Published 2:03 pm, Wednesday, May 20, 2015

ROWAYTON — Police are investigating a heated situation in Rowayton where someone has been setting fire to portable toilets.

Rowayton firefighter Sean Mcaleer said the department has responded multiple times to calls of flaming porta-potties since the end of April, with the most recent having occurred this week.

“The first and most recent fires were on Farm Creek by a construction site at a house and the other was on South Beach around 3 a.m., which burned to the ground,” Mcaleer said. “Then, we had two brush fires on separate days at Wilson and Highland.”

Mcaleer said all of the incidents have been reported to the Norwalk Police Department.

“They are taking it very seriously and said they have a person of interest,” Mcaleer said. “Luckily, whomever is doing this, is keeping it to just Porta-Potties, so I don’t think people have anything to be worried about. But, this is definitely a first for us and is kind of a pain getting woken up at 2 and 3 a.m. to go to these types of calls.”

Norwalk Deputy Chief Susan Zecca confirmed that several incidents have occurred and said the Detective Bureau is investigating each of them.

“We are getting in contact with the Fire Marshal and trying to see if they’re related,” Zecca said.

In addition to the Rowayton fires, a separate incident occurred on May 17 on Sammis Street in Norwalk, where a Porta-Potty was found melted down to a pile of plastic not far from a newly constructed city pumping station.

Members of the Norwalk Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA), which oversee such pumping stations, were briefed during their monthly meeting at the Public Works Center on May 18.

John Ahern, project manager with CH2M Hill OMI, the company that operates the city’s wastewater treatment plant and system under contract with the city, told WPCA members that the Porta-Potty melted to the ground.

OMI officials were called to the scene immediately afterward to ensure that contaminants had not been released into a nearby storm drain.

Norwalk Mayor Harry W. Rilling, ex-officio member of the WPCA, inquired about the incident at the meeting after receiving a telephone call from a resident.